The next day.
Today was the day Naruto and Itachi were to go to the Akatsuki Organization together.
Naruto used the teleporter to go to the base early in the morning.
Naturally, before Naruto left, he told his father about this matter.
Minato Namikaze initially refused when he learned that Naruto was going to the Akatsuki Organization, but after Naruto's 'mouth no jutsu', he agreed.
Naruto said, "The reason I'm going to Akatsuki this time is to try and correct Nagato's ideology. Who is Nagato? He's Jiraiya's eldest disciple, and Minato's senior brother."
Furthermore, Nagato is the most important chess piece for the masterminds behind the scenes: Black Zetsu, Uchiha Madara, and Uchiha Obito.
What if this chess piece abandoned the darkness and turned to the light early?
Black Zetsu would continue to be an orphan causing trouble.
Uchiha Madara would not be resurrected.
Obito would become a lone wolf, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan would be directly shelved.
Therefore, Nagato's role is extremely important.
After Naruto's analysis and understanding of the original plot, Minato finally agreed to Naruto contacting Nagato.
However, he still left a Flying Thunder God Mark on Naruto.
As long as Naruto was attacked, this Flying Thunder God Mark would be triggered, Minato Namikaze would be able to sense it, and he could instantly teleport to provide support.
At the base.
Itachi and Shisui had been waiting for Naruto's arrival early.
Seeing Naruto emerge from the teleporter, Shisui patted Itachi's shoulder and said, "Naruto, I'm entrusting Itachi to you! Don't let him be fooled by anyone!"
Itachi:
Itachi really wanted to say, "Do you think I'm you!"
But when he thought of Shisui's terrible anti-fraud exam scores, he kept quiet, after all, it was too heartbreaking!
On this side, Itachi was speechless, while Naruto laughed and said, "Don't worry! With me here, there's no problem!"
And so, Naruto and Itachi set off for the Land of Rain.
The Land of Rain is a country where it rains all year round; even when it's not raining, the Land of Rain is mostly cloudy.
Just as the two were about to enter the Land of Rain, they were stopped by several Ninja from the Rain Ninja Village, as they hadn't concealed their presence.
Because Naruto and Itachi were both dressed in commoner's coarse linen clothes, and they were relatively young, the Ninja didn't suspect their identities.
"Kids… vagrants?"
The leading Rain Ninja asked.
Just as Itachi was about to say that he was looking for the Akatsuki Organization, Naruto stopped him.
After stopping Itachi, Naruto smiled and said, "Yes… the border areas are starving, so we want to go to the Land of Rain to make a living!"
After confirming that Naruto and Itachi were vagrants, the Rain Ninja showed a malicious smile, then rubbed his thumb, index finger, and middle finger together.
Seeing this, Naruto knew this guy wanted a bribe!
"Um… we don't have money!"
"We heard that Lord Pain of the Akatsuki Organization in the Land of Rain is a great being who advocates peace. Can't he accept vagrants like us who are starving?"
Hearing Naruto's words, Itachi also looked at the several Rain Ninja in front of him with a serious expression.
However, the Rain Ninja's subsequent behavior and words greatly disappointed Itachi!
The several Rain Ninja were first stunned when they heard Naruto's words, and then they started to laugh.
Finally, the leading Rain Ninja stepped forward, patted Naruto's shoulder, and said, "Kid… you're too naive! What does peace have to do with ordinary people like you?"
"Since you have no money, hurry back and fend for yourselves!"
"If you want to change your fate, either become a Ninja, or become a bandit!"
Itachi:
Itachi didn't expect these Ninja to actually instigate two teenagers to become bandits.
He was almost unable to stop himself from acting!
Just then, two figures wearing black cloaks with red clouds walked towards them.
The newcomers were Kakuzu and Sasori.
Kakuzu and Sasori were supposed to leave yesterday, but they were delayed by a piece of intelligence.
That intelligence was the recruitment information within the Akatsuki Organization.
After receiving the information, Pain gave them a mission: to find a person named Hidan in the Land of Hot Water to join Akatsuki.
This was why the two only set out from the Rain Ninja Village today.
"Hmm? Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Itachi?"
Kakuzu was also very surprised to see Itachi and Naruto.
The several Rain Ninja who were laughing at Naruto's words immediately turned their heads when they heard the movement behind them.
Upon seeing Kakuzu and Sasori, everyone immediately lowered their heads.
"Greetings, Lord Kakuzu, Lord Sasori!"
Kakuzu waved his hand, signaling them to step back, then he came in front of Naruto and Itachi.
Naruto shrugged and said, "Didn't I say before? We would come to talk to your Akatsuki leader!"
"I thought Shisui would come! I didn't expect it to be you!"
When he heard Naruto wanted to talk to Pain, Kakuzu was a little flustered.
After all, he was currently playing both sides.
Most importantly, he felt that this kid Naruto's integrity wasn't too high; what if he said something he shouldn't to Pain…
Thinking of the consequence of being kicked out of the Akatsuki Organization, Kakuzu immediately pulled Naruto aside.
"Um… Naruto, you know, I'm with you just for money, but with the Akatsuki Organization, it's for my life! So far, I'm not sure if being with you is worth my life, so… can you spare my life?"
Naruto was stunned for a while by Kakuzu's tongue-twister-like words before he finally understood.
"Hey! Do I look like the kind of person who would betray a partner?"
Naruto's words made Kakuzu breathe a sigh of relief, but his next words made Kakuzu feel anxious again.
"At worst, I'll just turn your Akatsuki Organization's leader into one of us!"
"Hey, don't mess around! I can't even see through the Akatsuki Organization's leader. If you happen to die, all your money-making plans you mentioned earlier will be gone!"
"Don't worry! I have a sense of proportion!"
Naruto waved his hand and led Itachi towards the Land of Rain. As for those Rain Ninja, seeing Naruto and Kakuzu's intimate relationship, they naturally dared not stop them anymore!
Just as Kakuzu was about to turn and leave, he heard Naruto shout towards him, "There are two thousand virtual helmets and one hundred satellites all placed at the base. You can get them directly from Shisui!"
"Got it!"
Kakuzu waved his hand and left, heading towards the base.